28 French departments on orange alert on snow risk

The latest forecast of French weather agency, Meteo France, on Tuesday afternoon showed 28 departments including Paris were put on orange alert due to snowfall.

A predicted snowfall and freezing temperature are expected to sweep the French capital and surrounding areas in addition to northern and central regions till Wednesday, the agency said.

In central-eastern regions of the country, the snowfall is up to 10 cm and could double in coming hours that would make the traffic difficult.

Twenty-eight administrative departments, including eight in the Paris region, were put on orange alert. Bus services in the capital were canceled Tuesday evening with school transport suspended in many places Wednesday.

The Interior Ministry called on people to limit their movements and use public transport. In addition, it banned heavy trucks to circulate in main roads of the Ile-de France.

The country's railway company SNCF said trains traffic remained disrupted in parts of France mainly in north and east regions. The speed limit of high-speed trains TGV was restricted to 160 kilometers per hour, which caused long delays.

It forecasted to report snowfall up to 5 cm in Paris where the iconic Eiffel tower was closed Tuesday afternoon due to bad weather as heavy snow blanketed northern France and threw traffic out of gear.

"Due to weather conditions, the Eiffel Tower is closed for all our visitors," the authorities said on the icon's Twitter account.

Visitors huddled under umbrellas on the silvery road near the monument, admiring its snow-covered look.